TfL shortlists four firms to design and build a new generation of trains for the Docklands Light Railway

Transport for London (TfL) has issued an Invitation to Negotiate, or ITN, to four bidders as part of its procurement of a new fleet of DLR trains due to enter into service in the Capital from 2022.

Four pre-qualified bidders - Alstom Transport UK Ltd, Bombardier Transportation, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A. and a consortium, consisting of Siemens PLC, Stadler Bussang AG and Stadler Rail Valencia SAU - will now proceed to the next stage of TfL's procurement process.TfL is looking to order 43 new trains for the Docklands Light Railway, a move which will increase capacity on the DLR by up to 30 per cent.  Replacing existing rolling stock, some of which is 25 years old,  TfL's new generation light trains will be walk-through, air-conditioned and have technology including live information boards and mobile phone charging points.The contract to design and build the new trains is to be awarded in autumn 2018, and the new fleet will be in service from 2022, according to TfL.

“These new trains will enable us to increase capacity on the network by up to 30%, significantly improving the comfort, reliability and quality of our service for customers.

Jonathan Fox, Director of Rail and Sponsored Services, TfL.

The DLR currently carries 122m customers a year, is entirely step free and currently has 45 stations, 38km of track and 56 trains.  Upon entry into service, there will be a net increase of 10 trains operating on the DLR.Image © Transport for LondonTfL placed a Contract Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on 17 May 2017 seeking inviting suppliers to pre-qualify to design and build the trains for the DLR under reference 2017/S 094-185720.